Alberta Rural Crime Watch
 | The Eyes and Ears of Rural Alberta |
Identity Fraud
The Detectives from Edmonton Economic Crime Unit were retelling a story from one of the files they had worked on. They had to contact a mother and tell her that someone stole the identity of her child and was using it to defraud people. The "child" was the one that she had buried over two decades ago. The emotional pain, so evident in the phone call, was the price the con artist had extracted from the mother. It was not measured in dollars and cents it was measured in tears.
The scenario is familiar. You go to the Video Store and ask for a membership card. You give them your name, the name of your spouse, your children's names and perhaps an indication of their ages, your address, work and home phone numbers and your credit card number. The information is entered onto their database and now you can rent videos.
This is repeated for credit cards, store cards, club memberships, and credit applications. In fact, there are databases with your personal information all over the place, and now with the connecting of these databases to the Internet, your information is even easier to access.
Identity Theft is not new. Technological advances have just made the crime easier to perpetuate. Identity Theft is defined as "Knowingly transfer or use without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity". It is also referred to as a "True Name Frauds".
Typically the perpetrator gets access to your identity and uses it to open a bank account. The account is then used to establish credit or to deposit Fraudulent Items like bad cheques or altered money orders. The credit is then used to the limit or the money withdrawn.
Since it is your information, you are treated like you are guilty of the fraudulent activity and now must take the time and energy and resources to prove your innocence. The stigma created by the fraudster can follow you for years. Individual transactions are $2,000 to $3,000 and the average loss is in the range of $35,000 per person.
Red Flags
Here is a collection of tips from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners:
Methods to Protect Private Information
- Don't load purses or wallets with credit cards.
- Never leave purses or wallets in cars, even if they're hidden.
- Never carry social security cards or birth certificates in purses or wallets.
- Don't keep ATM personal identification numbers (PIN) or other passwords in purses or wallets.
- Avoid using easily discovered passwords or PIN number/codes, such as birth dates, phone numbers, or addresses.
- Keep a list or photocopy of all of your credit accounts and bank accounts in a secure place, such as a safe, lock box, or locked file cabinet.
- Keep tax records, cancelled checks, and paid bills in a secure place, or shred them before throwing them away.
- Be careful when ordering something over the Internet. Make sure the server is secure.
- When purchasing items with a credit card, always keep credit card receipts. Never toss them in a wastebasket.
- Don't let others see an entered ATM password.
- When approaching an ATM be aware of others near the machine.
- Don't leave printed receipts behind at bank machines or gas pumps.
- Don't speak or press credit card or bank account numbers over a wireless or cordless phone unless it's equipped with encryption technology.
- Change passwords and PIN numbers regularly.
- Consider purchasing a home paper shredder.
Methods to Secure Mail
- Cut up, shred, or otherwise destroy pre-approved credit offers that you don't intend to accept before putting them in your trash or recycling bin.
- When mailing bills, letters, applications, and other papers containing personal information place them in a secure outgoing mailbox.
- Don't write personal account numbers on checks or the outside of envelopes you are mailing.
- Install locked residential mailboxes.
- When ordering new checks, don't have them sent to a home mailbox but pick them up at the bank instead.
- Check with the post office if mail delivery suddenly stops.
- Don't leave mail accumulating in the mailbox while out of town.
- Inexpensive mailbox inserts - boxes that fit inside standard mailboxes - have slots for mail and must be unlocked with a key.
Methods to Check and Secure Accounts
- Order credit reports from each of the three credit bureaus at least once a year to ensure accurate information.
- Register credit cards with a credit card protection agency, and then place that agency's stickers on the cards.
- Check credit card statements and immediately report unauthorized purchases.
- Contact the issuer if a new or renewed credit card doesn't arrive.
- Add a fraud alert to credit files that signals the three major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union - to inform credit givers to call for verification of any credit applications.
- Read all bills carefully and call creditors to dispute any charge not made or authorized.
Identity Theft Web Sites
Following are some good sources of identity theft information:
www.consumer.gov/idtheft/
http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html
www.privacyrights.org/ar/id_theft.htm
www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/usamarch2001_3.htm
www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/hoaxalrt.htm
www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2001/jul/jul17a_01.html
http://www.abanet.org/media/lnn/copwidtheftscript.html
www.stolen-identity.com/
www.interesting-information.com/identity-theft/identity-theft-prevention.htm
http://credit.about.com/library/weekly/aa082500a.htm
http://consumer.usatoday.findlaw.com/congen/handbook/privacytips.html
http://clarkhoward.com/library/tips/identity_theft.html
http://www.usa-people-search.com/content-what-is-identity-theft.aspx